LAKE LADOGA – THE SEA OF KARELIA

The early hours are only just turning into a grey dawn as the boat pulls away from the shore of Lake Ladoga. The air is calm, but experienced fishermen know that the lake can turn merciless in an instant. Europe's largest lake does not forgive...

The Karelian railway network was the densest in Finland before the wars. The main lines built during the autonomy period ran between Riihimäki and St Petersburg, and between Vyborg and Joensuu. Karelia also had many branch lines and spurs. For the construction of the railways…

During the interwar period, the northern shore of Lake Ladoga developed into one of Finland's best-known tourist regions. Sortavala in particular rose to become an internationally renowned tourist town, through which people travelled to the Ladoga archipelago, the Valaam Monastery and the ridge landscapes of Karelia. At the same time, Käkisalmi, or…

Forests and waters were the most important natural resources of the Viipuri Province and the Lake Ladoga region, but minerals were also of great significance. From Ladoga Karelia, stone was transported from the Ruskeala quarry to St Petersburg for significant buildings from the mid-18th century. Ruskeala marble...

The boats typical of Lake Ladoga developed over hundreds of years to suit the conditions of the lake. Influences came from many directions. Models and lessons were taken, among other places, from the White Sea. According to Western sailors, White Sea vessels in the 16th century were clinker-built…

The Kexholm Coastal Fishermen’s Association was born at a time when Lake Ladoga was both a source of livelihood and a demanding working environment for the coastal people. The fishermen of the Kexholm coast were known especially for their skill in bait and hook fishing, travelling far in their large boats...

The origin and time of settlement of the Finno-Ugric peoples and languages have been a research challenge for several different scientific disciplines since at least the 19th century. Archaeologists, linguists, historians and more recently also palaeoanthropologists have put forward a number of different theories...

Ever since the Stone Age, Lake Ladoga has been part of a versatile waterway network used for travel between the White Sea, Lake Ladoga, Lake Saimaa, Lake Päijänne, Lake Inari, the Gulf of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland. The routes were used in both winter and summer for hunting and trading journeys.

Lake Ladoga has not always been Lake Ladoga. People speaking Finnic languages called Europe's largest lake Lake Neva, and this name was also in use by Russians as late as the 16th century. Evidence of this is King Gustav of Sweden…